Painters grab edge : win

Rain or Shine mentor Yeng Guiao has a simple answer on how to win Game 7 of their semifinal series versus Powerade.Stay aggressive.“If we can keep the energy up, keep the pressure, I think we’ll be OK,” Guiao said after the Painters staved off elimination by scoring a 112-98 victory in game 6 to tie their best-of-seven series at 3-3.

The sudden-death between the Painters and the Tigers is set at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City. As things stand now, Guiao believes they have the momentum, adding that his boys are fresher than the Tigers.Because of the depth of his squad, he was able to pace and rotate his players well – reason why Jeff Chan and rookie Paul Lee played an averaged of just 30 minutes through six games.

In comparison, Powerade’s Gary David and rookie Marcio Lassiter are the team’s top two scorers but they also played the most minutes in the series at 40-plus. In the previous game, both had 30 points but David was on the floor for 42 minutes while Lassiter played 41 minutes.“We’re going to be fresher than Powerade,” said Guiao, a five-time champion coach who is hoping to power the Welbest-owned franchise to its first Finals appearance since joining the PBA in 2006. “I think, mauubos din ‘yung shooting na ‘yan, kailangan lang nga we sustain the pressure.”

“Their top players, David and Lassiter, and even JV Casio are playing longer minutes, so hopefully at some point (in Game 7) they get tired. On our side, we can still run because we’re playing a rotation of lesser minutes to our players,” added Guiao. Powerade coach Bo Perasol, however, thinks otherwise.

According to Perasol, the long playing time of his ‘Big 3’ will not be an issue in Game 7 saying he can also rely on his other players like Celino Cruz, Rudy Lingganay, Sean Anthony, Doug Kramer, Rommel Adducul and Josh Vanlandingham.

“Most of them we’re absent (in Game 6), the supporting cast did not deliver,” said Perasol. “I think it’s not just two or three players who need to deliver. We need the supporting cast if we want to win Game 7 and move to the Finals.”